Religion

A sort of culture has emerged, predominant at least in the yeshivah world, which defines the month of Elul as a time for cultivating trepidation. With the Days of Awe looming, our earnest bachur… Read more

Exploring One of the Most Puzzling Rituals at a Jewish Wedding By Reuven Becker “Did you get to see the mizinke tantz?” my wife asked me while we were driving home from a wedding. “Yes,” I said. “My… Read more

“. . . and the childless one should not say, ‘Look, I am a shriveled tree.’ For this is what Hashem said to the barren ones who observe My Sabbaths and choose what I desire and hold tightly onto My… Read more

By Judy Gruen In the mikvah’s waiting room, I am engrossed as I watch my dear friend Jenna, clad in a long robe, face the rabbis who have overseen her geirut process. They ask: Do you realize this… Read more

Israel’s National Holocaust Memorial I am writing this article while seated on a train in Poland, traveling between Warsaw and Krakow. Watching the Polish countryside zip by from my comfortable… Read more

Misconception: If there is no Kohen, it is preferable to give the first aliyah to a Levi. Fact: Most authorities rule that it is equally acceptable to call upon a Levi or Yisrael in place of a Kohen,… Read more

By Brian Ross Several years ago, I arrived on location for a film shoot in North Carolina. As I settled into my office, there was a knock at the door and I looked up to see a long-haired, tattooed,… Read more

Dear__________, You ask me why a normal person, one who has the option of living either in the United States or in Israel, would choose to live in Jerusalem at such a time of conflict and danger.… Read more